The year is 1945 in this sequel to Hostetter’s earlier novel, Blue. Ann Fay has returned from treatment in a polio hospital and her beloved father is back from the war. Ann Fay thinks that she understands the changes that occurred at home during the war–the deprivation, the polio epidemic that killed her younger brother and disabled her–but she has no understanding of what her father went through. Her father suffers from what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. Ann Fay and her father are both in search of healing and peace of mind–“comfort”. Ann Fay is helped on her path by caring neighbors and treatment at the Warm Springs, Georgia polio treatment center. Her father’s healing path is lonelier and the outcome uncertain.

Comfort touches on themes of family, community, racial prejudice, and social class, but the novel never bogs down in any way. Ann Fay’s voice rings true in this beautiful coming-of-age story.